The misplaced priorities

You can be the richest man on earth but if you do not get your priorities right, you would eventually lose your wealth.

There is a reason why rich people do not stop investing.  There is a word that must be taken seriously into account as a businessman, organisation or a government and it is prudence.  There is an Akan proverb which says ‘Y3y3 nea ehia, ansa na y’ay3 nea 3fata’ that is, we do the needful before doing what satisfies our fancy.

 Unfortunately, in Africa, most of our leaders engage in fanciful projects without really considering their income generating prospects.  That is the reason why we never stop going to the IMF. 

It is common knowledge that if you take a loan, you have to invest it wisely to make profit so you can pay back the loan and the agreed interest.  Therefore if you decide to invest the loan in unprofitable ventures, then you are being reckless and will have to live with the consequences.

I read a story in the social media space and it really surprised me that an African leader could do that.  The story had it that late President Mobutu of Zaire, now DRC, travelled to Mauritania on an official visit and spent about 3 days there. 

He observed that during his stay there, the Mauritanian President wore the same dress and did not change his clothes.  Thinking that since Mauritania has become impoverished, its President did not have money to acquire new expensive clothing so he gave him a gift of five million US Dollars. 

This gift was via a cheque which Mobutu handed over to Mauritania’s Foreign Minister on the last day of his visit before departing from Mauritania.  When the Foreign Minister handed over the cheque to the President after President Mobutu had left, he directed that the cheque be paid into the national treasury but not into his personal account.  He had an idea in mind.

At that time due to the withdrawal of France from a lot of African countries and accompanying withdrawal of aid, funds for development were in short supply in Mauritania. 

One of the top priorities of the government then, was the establishment of a Teacher Training College to train a lot of teachers to address the lack of adequate teachers in the educational sector. The money was therefore put to good use immediately, by the construction of the requisite infrastructure to establish a Teacher Training College. 

Five years later, President Ould Daddah heard that President Mobutu was coming to Morocco for a state visit on his way from the United States of America. He sent an urgent message to him that he should kindly make a stopover in Nouachott, on his way home after leaving Morocco.

President Mobutu obliged and made a stopover as requested by his Mauritanian counterpart and he noticed something that was strange to him.

On his way out of the airport towards what he assumed the office of the President as his destination, he saw large banners along the streets that read ‘Thank you, President Mobutu, for the gift’ and he was baffled because he had not given anything to the people of Mauritania. 

Therefore when he got out of the vehicle after they branched off into the Training College, he asked President Daddah what the banner was all about and he explained that this is the result of the money you gave me as gift for me to get luxurious clothes from Paris. 

President Mobutu then said that if Africa had leaders like you, it would have developed far more than it has.  The irony is that when Mobutu was dishing out gifts, a lot of the people of Zaire were impoverished and critical infrastructure were urgently needed. 

The issue therefore is not about the lack of funds but the right leaders, who are not selfish but prioritises the needs of the masses and who can also put the available resources to good use.  God bless.

By Laud Kissi-Mensah

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